Mammuthus
The Mammuthus primigenius or Woolly Mammoth'' ''is a large herbivorous mammal that lived in Eurasia and North America during the Pleistocene and early Holocene. In Prehistoric Kingdom A favourite for many Ice Age themed zones and parks, Mammathus is a five star animal. It requires a large exhibit of 1km squared or more. They prefer a subpolar climate with hardly any foliage or water, which can make them an ideal companion with Coelodonta. They live in large herds ranging from 4 to 30 animals and prefer some shelter as they are relatively private animals. A mighty creature, the mammoth needs high strength fencing, but isn't as dangerous as some of the large therapod dinosaurs. Their fossils can be found on the Mammoth Steppe dig sites. Palaeontology One of the most popular of all prehistoric animals, the woolly mammoth is also the best studied ancient mammals. The remains of mammoths had been well known and widespread of thousands of years, with native peoples of Siberia carving sculptures and idols from fossilised mammoth tusks and selling them far and wide. However these tribes believed the tusks belonged to primordial giants or huge burrowing creatures. It was not until 1799 that they were identified as mammoths. The most familiar Mammoth species and the one present in Prehistoric Kingdom is ''Mammuthus primigenius. ''There were several other species of mammoth, including the longer tusked and shorter haired Columbine mammoth which lived further south and a pygmy mammoth which lived in California's Channel Islands. Their closest living relative today is the Asian elephant and like modern day elephants they had prehensile trunks to manipulate food. The woolly mammoth has several adaptations for the cold of the ice age, including smaller ears and tail to minimise heat loss and, most famously, long thick hair to conserve heat. There was also numerous sebaceous glands which secreted oils into the hair to help retain heat and repel water. The sweeping tusks were used to scrape away snow and ice to uncover plants. Most mammoths roamed open steppes, called Mammoth Steppes, which dominated by grasses, herbs and shrubs and few trees. Early humans lived alongside the mammoths and there is evidence they hunted these ancient mammals. In some areas human populations depended on mammoths for reliable sources of food and building materials. They also seemed to have had an impact in their culture, as shown with cave paintings and carvings of mammoths. Mammoths went into a gradual decline during the Holocene and the end of the glacial maximum. As temperatures rose, the mammoth's range also shrank with encroaching forests and other types of grassland taking over much of their steppes. The last mammoths were dwarf populations on Wrangel Island and Saint Paul Island, which went extinct around 4000 years ago as the Great Pyramid of Khufu was under construction in Ancient Egypt. The woolly mammoth was given its scientific name in 1799 by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, a German natural historian and doctor who mainly studied anthropology. Trivia * Mammuthus was featured in Prehistoric Kingdom's older logo. * Mammuthus is featured in the Mascot Statue. Gallery Woolly Mammoth profile.jpg Mammuthus skins.jpg Mammuthus comparison.jpg Category:Animals Category:Mammals Category:Herbivores Category:Pleistocene Category:Holocene Category:Europe Category:Asia Category:North America Category:5 stars Category:Subpolar